Heroes
by Mademoiselle Eva
Summary: A life sentence at a freakshow is all he expects; someone saving him from this prison is entirely unexpected. Oneshot, Noah's Ark Circus pre-canon.


Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroshitsuji, it belongs to Yana Toboso. Otherwise Ericlan would be in the manga and boyslove would be more blatant. XD

I wanted to work more with Snake, and the Noah's Ark Circus in general. It is absolutely my favorite arc, and I really wanted to try working with them, because they're so different from the highbrow, fancy speech and actions of Sebastian, Ciel, and their regular crew. I may have gone overboard with their accents, though; if so, I apologize. Please read and review, and please regard me kindly! :)

(Also, for those of you watching me for Subject 12, I apologize! There should be another chapter out shortly. School is coming up and it's really cutting into my writing time, so oneshots are easier to do. Thank you for your patience and kindness!)

oOo

Society does not take kindly to anything which deviates from the norm. If there is a single thing 'wrong' with a person, society will not reach out and take them lovingly by the hand, guiding and helping. Instead, it will put them in a freak show.

Thus was the fate of one beautiful child. The boy had soft skin the color of fine china and cornsilk hair. He had silvery-green eyes and a soft, smooth voice. When he moved, he had an innate grace, limbs lithe. On those lithe limbs, odd bunches of reptilian scales were placed delicately, almost deliberate in their strangely charming patterns.

It was those scales that earned him life in a cage. Seven years old, and and life was a cage as people gawked, every once in a while throwing insults and objects, but mostly staring and moving on. Life was two scant meals a day that left him and his serpentine companions wanting more, ribs showing against pale skin. Life was having ophidian allies slither through the bars in hopes that after their meal, they might bring back a mouse or two for him, despite the fact that he disliked eating according to his snake side. When you're caged, you do what you must to survive.

Five years of a cage is a long time. It is not nearly the longest, but when a boy is only seven years old going in and assumes that it's a life sentence he's serving, every hour is a year and every year is a day. Time holds no meaning anymore. Every man, woman, and child who pass are the same. Occasionally there's an oddity, but it passes, and days blur together.

"Hey." The boy stirs from his huddled mass of snakes and filth. It's not often someone speaks at him without an insult right off the bat. It was a little girl, a very small eight at the most generous, with chestnut colored hair covering one eye. The other eye stared at him, hazel and sharp, but curious. "Can y'talk?" The boy moved forward slightly, and the girl tilted her head, appearing to be thinking. "Um… what's your name? Mine's Doll."

"Doll?" he repeated, and her eyes lit up. "I'm Snake, says Emily." Doll's eyebrows rose.

"Is yer name Snake or Emily?"

"This is Snake," he said again, pointing to himself, "and this is Emily, says Emily." He pulled a snake from the pile, and it daintily wrapped around his neck. Doll cocked her head to the other side.

"So y'talk through a snake?"

"All the snakes, Oscar says," the boy corrected, shifting anxiously. This was the longest conversation he'd had in years. The girl looked him over, nodded, and ran off with a smile.

"Beast! Beast!" Snake's heart sank. She was only teasing him after-

"What's this, Doll?" The girl was back before he could finish his thought, dragging a teenaged girl with black curls by the hand. Behind them was a teenage boy with red hair and the most flamboyant outfit Snake had ever seen, with a black teardrop sketched onto his cheek. The older girl looked a bit annoyed with the younger, but the boy merely looked vaguely interested.

"He speaks to snakes, isn't that amazing, Beast?"

"Fascinating," the girl said, in a tone that indicated she didn't care much one way or the other. Snake, on the other hand, was relieved; the girl hadn't been calling him a monster, it was her – friends? sisters? – name.

Doll pouted, clearly not getting the reaction she wanted. She raised her arms to the boy. "_You_ think he's amazing, don't y'Joker?" The teen smiled and took his hands out of his pockets. Snake's eyes widened to see that one hand seemed to be just bone, no flesh or skin attached. Joker picked the little girl up, and she giggled as he lifted her into the air before resting her on his hip.

"Absolutely." She leaned in and whispered into his ear, and then looked at him pleadingly, while Beast looked on warily. Joker looked over at Snake, face thoughtful but betraying no other emotion. "Ye think, little sis?" Doll nodded vigorously. "We'll have t' ask Father-"

"What?" Beast snapped, eyes widening. "What are you going to ask Father?" Joker darted a look at Snake and then at Beast.

"…but I think that he'll agree," he finished slowly. With the hand not holding Doll, his fingers moved rapidly, singing to the black haired beauty. After a second her eyes narrowed and she stalked over, slapping his hand to make him stop. He frowned and set Doll down, pointing some direction. The child nodded and ran off, leaving the teens to argue between themselves in heated whispers. Finally they slowed to a stop as Snake watched, fascinated. Joker smiled and kissed the girl's cheek, turning back to the boy in the cage before he could see Beast blush.

"Hello, friend. My little sister says she's taken quite a likin' to ye." Joker's voice was casual, but he couldn't have surprised Snake more if he had confided that he had a second head. He felt a tail poke his cheek.

_You're staring,_ Emily chided. _Say thank you._

"Th-thank you, says Emily," Snake said quickly. Joker laughed.

"An' I though' she was makin' up the whole 'talks with snakes' thing. I think she was righ' abou' ye." He slid his hands back into his pockets, eyes dancing as he gave Snake a winning showman's smile. "Le' me ask somethin'. D'ye have any poisonous snakes in there?" Snake listened as various snakes offered up their services.

"Yes," he answered simply, after a moment. "…says Charles, Thackeray, and Webster." Joker nodded, as if this was the most natural thing in the world.

"Good, good. An' they'll obey ye? Won' go attackin' without orders?"

"Yes, says Oscar," Snake said, shifting again, though more out of exhaustion than anything else. Joker noticed and nodded once more.

"Get some rest now, eh? We'll come back tomorrow." He slipped his regular hand through the bars and offered it to Snake. The fragile boy took it, very gingerly, and Joker gave him the same brotherly smile that he'd given to Doll.

"Why us?" Snake asked softly. "It seems unfair to the others in cages, says Emily."

"Tha's the beauty o' grace, innit?" Joker replied with a wink. "It makes life unfair." He reached up and tousled the boy's hair. It was the first time in Snake's memory that someone had touched him with affection. "We'll be back tomorrow. Promise." And he turned away. Snake fell into a restless sleep, filled with bright eyed children calling him a beast while disembodied voices of both children and teens whispered 'amazing' and 'friend'.

oOo

"Look, we can do this th' easy way or th' hard way." Snake woke to the voice of the boy from yesterday. He cautiously opened one eye, otherwise remaining motionless. To his surprise, the older girl – Beast, he corrected himself – had the master of the show tied to a chair with a whip. She had a look of utmost loathing on her face, while a new boy about his age held a dagger under the showmaster's chin. Doll stood beside Joker, clinging to his pant leg. She didn't seem disturbed by the situation; instead, she merely seemed mildly interested by all the goings on, looking around until she spotted Snake. The little girl beamed and tugged hurriedly on Joker's sleeve.

"No' now, Doll, I'm doin' business." He brushed the child's hand away with a smile. "Now, as I was sayin', either take the five quid we're offerin', or we'll jus' take him by force."

"Yer already threatin' me!" the Showmaster snarled.

"Joker!" Doll insisted, tugging on his arm to no avail.

"Goin' once… goin' twice," Joker said, almost sing-songing the words. "Too late, force it is." He turned towards the cage, eyes widening in pleased surprise to see Snake staring out at them, dumbfounded. "Ah, yer awake, good!"

"That's what I was trying to _tell_ you!" Doll said, tiny hands in fists on tiny hips, with the air of mimicking an older sibling.

"Sorry, sorry," Joker said, with the air of someone who really wasn't sorry much at all, walking to the door of the cage. He leaned over and inspected the lock. After a second, the redhead pulled a scrap of metal from his pocket and slid it in, jiggling it back and forth as if trained on it. A few seconds of maneuvering and the lock popped open, allowing the teen to swing the door of the cage out. Snake blinked, unmoving. He was terrified it was all one horrible joke, or a test that he would fail by stepping outside. Worse, that it was all an illusion inside his head, and that he'd finally gone mad.

Joker stepped aside to let Doll move forward, offering one small, pale hand. Her eyes were warm and inviting, and her smile held no hesitation. She was a child untainted by the harshness of the world, and he had to marvel at that fact. Slowly, Snake reached out, his hand hovering over the younger child's, as if scared to actually touch her. She shifted her hand up to grab his, tugging gently to pull him out onto the earth. He stumbled in his haste, and Joker grabbed his shoulder to steady him.

"Ye all righ' there?"

"Y-yes, says Oscar," Snake stammered, getting his footing.

"Good. Le's go." Joker let go of him and beckoned as he walked away, striding confidently. The new boy followed first, then Doll squeezed Snake's hand with an encouraging smile as they began to walk, a parade of snakes following behind. He felt someone grab his shoulder and flinched.

"Hey, calm down." He turned his head to see Beast giving him a half-smile. "You'll do fine, sorry if I was hard on you. Welcome to the family." She patted him on the shoulder once before hurrying to catch up with Joker.

Snake blinked, and wondered if this was what happiness felt like.


End file.
